The present invention relates to malfunction testing of television receivers and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for more efficiently and expeditiously localizing a source of faulty operation in a color television receiver.
Faulty color operation of a color television receiver can be attributable to either the color television image producing element (e.g. the three gun cathode ray picture tube) or the chassis circuitry which controls the operation of the tube by supplying control signals to the picture tube through plural sockets in an output signal connector removably received by an input signal connector on the picture tube. The television picture tube and chassis are therefore usually tested separately to determine which is the cause of the faulty operation.
The testing devices required for complete check out of the picture tube and chassis are usually quite complex. Many of these testing devices are cumbersome to transport and may also require certain specific power supplies which are not ordinarily available except at the repair shop. Additionally, the testing apparatus utilized is often sensitive to certain conditions such as heat and humidity and thus has to be operated in a closed environment. Furthermore, the testing apparatus is often enough too complex to be operated by a layman and requires a fairly detailed knowledge of both the operation of the television receiver and of the testing apparatus for successful testing. It has thus often been the practice, whenever faulty color operation occurs in a color television receiver, to either remove the entire receiver to a repair shop where the complex testing devices are located or to bring some of these testing devices to the locale of the receiver for preliminary analysis of the problem.